Fox signed Bill O'Reilly knowing of US$32 million sex harassment settlement
The company said Bill O’Reilly’s new contract had added protections that allowed Fox to dismiss him if other allegations surfaced
Bill O’Reilly, the Fox News commentator forced to resign in April, agreed to a US$32 million sexual harassment settlement in January, and the network’s parent knew about the deal when it gave him a new contract the next month, The New York Times reported.
The previously undisclosed agreement, at least the sixth involving O’Reilly or the company related to harassment charges against him, was “extraordinarily large” for such cases, according to the newspaper, which cited two people “briefed on the matter” as its sources.
Twenty-First Century Fox Inc acknowledged that it had been aware of O’Reilly’s settlement with Lis Wiehl, a former Fox News legal analyst, when it signed a contract extension with The O’Reilly Factor host in February.
The company “was told by Mr O’Reilly that he had settled the matter personally, on financial terms that he and Ms Wiehl had agreed were confidential and not disclosed to the company,” 21st Century Fox said in a statement emailed by spokesman Nathaniel Brown.
The Times report was strongly disputed by O’Reilly spokesman Mark Fabiani, who called it a malicious smear aimed at harming the conservative talk show host’s career.
“In its latest diatribe against Bill O’Reilly, The Times printed leaked information provided by anonymous sources that is out of context, false, defamatory, and obviously designed to embarrass Bill O’Reilly and to keep him from competing in the marketplace,” Fabiani said.
Wiehl could not be immediately reached for comment. But Fabiani provided a copy of what he said was an affidavit from her, saying she had settled her differences with both O’Reilly and Fox News, and had no claims against either one of them.
